Opinion: An end run on the manatee

The Coastal Conservation Association of Florida is the state's largest sport-fishing organization, claiming more than 10,000 members, most of whom also are avid boaters. The group is worried that the state and federal governments are on the verge of establishing additional manatee sanctuaries, where the gentle sea cows can swim and feed without being threatened by curious or careless humans.

To interrupt the momentum toward more sanctuaries, which have a tendency to get in the way of a good boat ride, the CCA has asked the state to prove that West Indian manatees are still an endangered species. If the state cannot justify that designation, the CCA is hopeful the feds will follow suit.

The crux of the CCA's argument is that the manatee population has grown dramatically in the past decade -- to more than 3,200, according to the most recent count. With that many manatees tooling around Florida's waterways, the manatee must be flourishing, the CCA reasons.

Even if that is true, it raises a fundamental question: What is responsible for bringing the manatee population back from the brink of extinction?

Could it be the laws that protect manatees as endangered? Or is it because the federal government created seven sanctuaries in Citrus County, which is where the greatest manatee population growth has occurred, and where the adult survival rate of manatees is higher than anywhere in the state?

Those statistics clearly show that sanctuaries accomplish their intent. It follows that expanding the number of protected areas will ensure the species' continued resurgence.

It's way too soon to declare manatees are no longer endangered. To do so would declare open season on an animal that has no natural enemy other than a boat propeller.

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